Visual impairment and orientation and mobility professionals education assistance program

(a)

Establishment of program

Chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter:

VIII

Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program

7691.

Authority for program

As part of the Educational Assistance Program and subject to the availability of appropriations for such purpose, the Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program under this subchapter. The program shall be known as the Department of Veterans Affairs Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the Program). The purpose of the Program is to increase the supply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the Department and the Nation.

7692.

Eligibility; agreement

(a)

Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the Program, an individual must be accepted for enrollment or enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) as a full-time or part-time student in a field of education or training described in subsection (b). (b)

Qualifying fields of education or training

A field of education or training described in this subsection is education or training leading to— (1)a degree or certificate in visual impairment or orientation and mobility, or a dual degree or certification in both such areas; and (2)appointment or retention in a position under section 7401 of this title. (c)

Agreement

(1)An agreement between the Secretary and a participant in the Program shall (in addition to the requirements set forth in section 7604 of this title) include the following: (A)The Secretary’s agreement to provide the participant with a scholarship under the Program for a specified number (from one to three) of school years during which the participant pursues a course of education or training described in subsection (b) that meets the requirements set forth in section 7602(a) of this title. (B)The participant’s agreement to serve as a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration for a period of three years (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the period of obligated service) during the six-year period beginning on the date the participant completes the education or training and receives a degree or certificate described in subsection (b)(1). (C)The participant’s agreement to serve under subparagraph (B) in a Department facility selected by the Secretary. (2)In a case in which an extension is granted under section 7673(c)(2) of this title, the number of years for which a scholarship may be provided under the Program shall be the number of school years provided for as a result of the extension. (3)In the case of a participant who is a part-time student, the period of obligated service shall be reduced in accordance with the proportion that the number of credit hours carried by such participant in any such school year bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried by a full-time student in the course of training being pursued by the participant, but in no event to less than one year.

7693.

Scholarship

(a)

Scholarship

A scholarship provided to a participant in the Program for a school year shall consist of payment of the tuition (or such portion of the tuition as may be provided under subsection (b)) of the participant for that school year and payment of other reasonable educational expenses (including fees, books, and laboratory expenses) for that school year. (b)

Amounts

The total amount of the scholarship payable under subsection (a)— (1)in the case of a participant in the Program who is a full-time student, may not exceed $15,000 for the equivalent of one year of full-time coursework; and (2)in the case of a participant in the Program who is a part-time student, shall bear the same ratio to the amount that would be paid under paragraph (1) if the participant were a full-time student in the course of education or training being pursued by the participant as the coursework carried by the participant to full-time coursework in that course of education or training. (c)

Limitations on period of payment

(1)The maximum number of school years for which a scholarship may be paid under subsection (a) to a participant in the Program shall be six school years. (2)A participant in the Program may not receive a scholarship under subsection (a) for more than the equivalent of three years of full-time coursework. (d)

Payment of educational expenses by educational institutions

The Secretary may arrange with an educational institution in which a participant in the Program is enrolled for the payment of the educational expenses described in subsection (a). Such payments may be made without regard to subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31. (e)

Full-time coursework

For purposes of this section, full-time coursework shall consist of the following: (1)In the case of undergraduate coursework, 30 semester hours per undergraduate school year. (2)In the case of graduate coursework, 18 semester hours per graduate school year.

7694.

Obligated service

(a)

In general

Each participant in the Program shall provide service as a full-time employee of the Department for the period of obligated service provided in the agreement of the participant entered into under section 7604 of this title. Such service shall be provided in the full-time clinical practice of such participant’s profession or in another health-care position in an assignment or location determined by the Secretary. (b)

Determination of service commencement date

(1)Not later than 60 days before a participant’s service commencement date, the Secretary shall notify the participant of that service commencement date. That date is the date for the beginning of the participant’s period of obligated service. (2)As soon as possible after a participant’s service commencement date, the Secretary shall— (A)in the case of a participant who is not a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration, appoint the participant as such an employee; and (B)in the case of a participant who is an employee in the Veterans Health Administration but is not serving in a position for which the participant’s course of education or training prepared the participant, assign the participant to such a position. (3)(A)In the case of a participant receiving a degree from a school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or podiatry, the participant’s service commencement date is the date upon which the participant becomes licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or podiatry, as the case may be, in a State. (B)In the case of a participant receiving a degree from a school of nursing, the participant’s service commencement date is the later of— (i)the participant’s course completion date; or (ii)the date upon which the participant becomes licensed as a registered nurse in a State. (C)In the case of a participant not covered by subparagraph (A) or (B), the participant’s service commencement date is the later of— (i)the participant’s course completion date; or (ii)the date the participant meets any applicable licensure or certification requirements. (4)The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the service commencement date for participants who were part-time students. Such regulations shall prescribe terms as similar as practicable to the terms set forth in paragraph (3). (c) (c)

Commencement of obligated service

(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), a participant in the Program shall be considered to have begun serving the participant’s period of obligated service— (A)on the date, after the participant’s course completion date, on which the participant (in accordance with subsection (b)) is appointed as a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration; or (B)if the participant is a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration on such course completion date, on the date thereafter on which the participant is assigned to a position for which the participant’s course of training prepared the participant. (2)A participant in the Program who on the participant’s course completion date is a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration serving in a capacity for which the participant’s course of training prepared the participant shall be considered to have begun serving the participant’s period of obligated service on such course completion date. (d)

Course completion date defined

In this section, the term course completion date means the date on which a participant in the Program completes the participant’s course of education or training under the Program.

7695.

Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements of agreement

(a)

In general

An individual who receives educational assistance under this subchapter shall repay to the Secretary an amount equal to the unearned portion of such assistance if the individual fails to satisfy the requirements of the agreement entered into under section 7604 of this title, except in circumstances authorized by the Secretary. (b)

Amount of repayment

The Secretary shall establish, by regulations, procedures for determining the amount of the repayment required under this subsection and the circumstances under which an exception to the required repayment may be granted. (c)

Waiver or suspension of compliance

The Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing for the waiver or suspension of any obligation of an individual for service or payment under this subchapter (or an agreement under this subchapter) whenever noncompliance by the individual is due to circumstances beyond the control of the individual or whenever the Secretary determines that the waiver or suspension of compliance is in the best interest of the United States. (d)

Obligation as debt to United States

An obligation to repay the Secretary under this section is, for all purposes, a debt owed the United States. A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11 does not discharge a person from such debt if the discharge order is entered less than five years after the date of the termination of the agreement or contract on which the debt is based.

(b)

Clerical amendment

The tables of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the items relating to subchapter VII the following new items:

SUBCHAPTER VIII—Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program

7691. Authority for program.

7692. Eligibility; agreement.

7693. Scholarship.

7694. Obligated service.

7695. Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements of agreement.

(c)

Conforming amendments

Such chapter is further amended— (1)in section 7601(a)— (A)in paragraph (4), by striking and at the end; (B)in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting ; and; and (C)by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(6)the Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program provided for in subchapter VIII of this chapter.

;

(2)in section 7602— (A)in subsection (a)(1)— (i)by striking or VI and inserting VI, or VIII; and (ii)by striking or for which a scholarship may be awarded under subchapter VI of this chapter and inserting for which a scholarship may be awarded under subchapter VI of this chapter, or for which a scholarship may be awarded under subchapter VIII of this chapter; and (B)in subsection (b), by striking or VI and inserting VI, or VIII; (3)in section 7603(a)(1), by striking or VI and inserting VI, or VIII; and (4)in section 7604, by striking or VI each place it appears and inserting VI, or VIII. (d)

Effective date

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement subchapter VIII of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act.